Virtual MBA creates real networks

Last August, Randy Kehler had an important decision to make. The 46-year-old recent graduate of Athabasca University’s MBA program was offered two very different but promising career opportunities. Unsure of which to choose, Mr. Kehler turned to his newly expanded professional network of Athabasca alumni for guidance.

“I reached out not only to people I had gone to school with, but other MBAs that were in the industry that I was moving into to decide which might be the better opportunity and which might better fit who I am based on my history.”

After Mr. Kehler chose to become the sales manager for Traffilog — a hardware and software company that provides diagnostics and analytics related to the performance of vehicles and heavy machinery — his network then provided him with contacts within his target industry so he could learn how his company’s products could be of value to them.

The breadth and depth of relationships the Winnipeg native developed with people across the globe through his online MBA program continues to surprise him.

“As you move forward [through the program] you start to develop a lot of trust,” he says. “People will be honest and they’ll tell you if they believe what you believe or if they see things differently … having a collaborative learning environment is a powerful way to learn.”

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Athabasca welcomes approximately 220 students each year and maintains a total student body of about 900 for its MBA program. Of those, 5% are non-Canadians and 5%-12% are Canadians living abroad.

Unlike other universities where students are in one another’s physical presence on a daily basis, Athabasca’s strictly online program uses interactive technology and digital networks to help form lasting relationships.

Merri Lemmex completed the Athabasca MBA program in 2008 after returning to Canada from the U.S. where she and her husband had been living for several years. The entrepreneur says it wasn’t until near the end of her MBA program that she began to understand the importance of the relationships she had established with her MBA peers — many of whom she had never met in person.

“As we were getting ready to wrap up the program, everyone suddenly started thinking about how they were no longer technically connected through the Athabasca network, and that we needed something to connect us,” she says. “This was the time that LinkedIn became more popular and they set up a LinkedIn group.”

After graduation, Ms. Lemmex and her husband launched Lemmex Williams Training, which provides management and leadership training. Like Mr. Kehler, Ms. Lemmex found helpful counsel through her MBA network, which offered her suggestions to help her run her business.

“It gives you information you can’t get in a book. You can talk to different business people and get those types of insights.”

Both Ms. Lemmex and Mr. Keller were surprised by the networking aspect of what they initially thought would be a self-directed business program that they had pursued primarily for the value of its designation.

In retrospect, Mr. Kehler says he wished he would have considered the networking aspect to a greater extent going into the program.

“The social network portion of it is a really big, important part of the program. The reason is you have people come from a number of different industries, and so you have different perspectives; you have people from profit, non-profit … from health care and manufacturing. Then you have the global social aspect where you have people throughout the world being part of this program, and so you get the culture influences.”